So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

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More information about this quote

Topic

Effects of the past The past The human condition

Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Source

The Great Gatsby

Medium

Novel

Statement Type

Closing lines Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

United States

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925, ch. 9.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald about effects of the past: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back…”
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A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald about effects of the past: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back…”
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A quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald about effects of the past: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

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More information about this quote
Topic
New York City

Author

F. Scott Fitzgerald
Source
The Great Gatsby
Medium
Novel
Language
English
Time
1925 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925, ch. 4.

Another quote from the 1920s

Love your solitude and bear with sweet-sounding lamentation the suffering it causes you.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Letters to a Young Poet

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More information about this quote
Topic
Solitude

Author

Rainer Maria Rilke
Source
Letters to a Young Poet
Medium
Letter
Statement Type
Advice
Language
German
Time
1929 1920s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letter to Franz Kappus. 16 July 1903.

Current Citation

Rilke, Rainer Maria. Letters to a Young Poet, translated by Charlie Louth. Penguin Classics, 2014.

Another quote about The human condition

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11

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More information about this quote
Topic
Randomness Timing The human condition
Source
Ecclesiastes The Bible
Medium
Scripture
Genre
Religious literature
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages
Language
Hebrew
Time
931 BC 930s BC 10th century BC
Era
Classical antiquity
Authentication Score 3
Citation

The Holy Bible: The King James Version. 1611. (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

Another quote of the following type Metaphor, analogy and simile

He that lieth down with Dogs, shall rise up with Fleas.

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)

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More information about this quote
Topic
Negative influences The company one keeps Influences Reputation Character

Author

Poor Richard (Benjamin Franklin)
Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Medium
Almanac
Statement Type
Proverbs, aphorisms and adages Metaphor, analogy and simile
Language
English
Time
1733 1730s 18th century
Era
Colonial America
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Franklin, Benjamin [published as Richard Saunders]. Poor Richard's Almanack. Philadelphia, 1733.

Current Citation

Franklin, Benjamin. "Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1733." Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography, Poor Richard, and Later Writings, edited by J. A. Leo Lemay. Library of America, 2005.